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Panasonic just released its second generation Blu-ray player today, the DMP-BD10A. It supports DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD, two new 7.1-channel audio formats that are beginning to gain traction. (Incidentally, Microsoft’s HD DVD player now supports these formats.) The player also adds H.264 to its list of supported video codecs. So yeah, it’s pretty much the same Panasonic Blu-ray player that came out last year, just $700 cheaper. That’s right, the power of Blu-ray can now be yours for just $600. Even better is that Panasonic bundles Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Crest, Transporter, Fantastic Four and Crash with the player.

At this rate, I’ll be able to comfortably afford one starting with next year’s model.